Home runs haunt Orioles again in 10-3 loss (Rogers optioned)

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde had the plan set up in his mind, with little chance that he'd stray from it.

Dan Straily would make his first start since last September, with rookie Josh Rogers backing him up. Use the veteran right-hander against an Athletics lineup heavy in right-handed hitters before turning to the young lefty.

The leash on Straily would be shorter than usual due to his inactivity since late in spring training, the Marlins releasing him on March 25 and the Orioles signing him two weeks later. The 44 pitches thrown Sunday out of the bullpen didn't do much to stretch him out, just knock off a little of the rust.

Hyde can plot out the pitching sequence, but he remains stumped on how to eliminate the home runs.

The Athletics clubbed five more tonight, the first two off Straily, and the Orioles lost 10-3 before an announced crowd of 7,974 at Camden Yards. They're 5-7 with one game left on the homestand.

Opponents have scored in double figures in three of the last four games.

Chris Davis pinch-hit for Renato Núñez leading off the bottom of the ninth and flied to deep center field on a 2-2 pitch from Yusmeiro Petit to tie Tony Bernazard's record for most consecutive plate appearances without a hit at 57. He's also 0-for-50.

Trey Mancini hit his sixth home run of the season leading off the fifth inning after Frankie Montas retired the first 12 batters - again driving the ball to the opposite field. Núñez singled and Rio Ruiz hit his first homer to cut the lead to 7-3.

Montas was twice burned on 95 mph fastballs, but the recovery was swift. He struck out three batters in the sixth after Cedric Mullins' leadoff walk, with Mancini going down swinging and slamming his helmet to the ground.

The Orioles turned the tables for an inning, but they've allowed 32 home runs in 12 games to lead the majors. The Red Sox entered the night with 23 and the teams begin a four-game series on Friday.

Virginia Tech product Chad Pinder, with family and friends cheering him, gave Oakland a 1-0 lead in the second and Jurickson Profar hit a two-run shot in the fourth as the penultimate batter that Straily faced.

Khris Davis followed his RBI single in the third with a two-run homer off Rogers in the fifth for a 7-0 lead before the Orioles, their offense silenced by Montas, started to get loud.

Matt Chapman and Davis went back-to-back off Rogers in the seventh to stretch Oakland's lead to 10-3. Davis has 200 career home runs and 23 multi-homer games.

Straily was charged with five runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings, with no walks or strikeouts. He threw 66 pitches - a fastball mostly 89-90 along with a slider, changeup and curveball. Pinder homered on the fastball, Profar the slider.

Rogers covered the next 3 2/3 innings and also allowed five runs via the three homers, his outing done after 70 pitches. He's the 30th player used by the Orioles through only 12 games. The franchise record is 56 set last year.

Mike Wright tossed two scoreless innings with three strikeouts.

On the same day that Straily made his first Orioles start, the player designated for assignment to create room for him, Rule 5 infielder Drew Jackson, cleared waivers and returned to the Dodgers.

Jackson impressed in spring training with his .316/.355/.386 slash line and nine RBIs in 27 games and profiled as a valuable super utility player on a potentially short bench. He was 0-for-3 with a walk and strikeout in three games this season.

Update: The Orioles optioned Rogers to Triple-A Norfolk after the game and will bring up a fresh arm for Thursday.

Hyde on home runs allowed: "We've got to find a way to keep the ball in the ballpark. We're giving up a lot of home runs and it's no secret we're falling behind because we're giving up a lot of longballs. We've just got to find a way to keep the ball in the park."

Hyde on Straily: "It was his first start and he made some mistakes that got hit. I think they were leaning out over the plate on him and fastball-slider guy and they're looking out over the plate and drove some balls on him. But it's his first start. Continue to build him and go from there."

Hyde on Rogers: "Rogers ate some innings for us. This is a good lineup and this is a playoff-caliber team. I thought he pitched in well, but a few mistakes hurt him. Overall we've just got to find a way to get off the barrel. We're giving up way too many home runs. It's just the bottom line."

Hyde again on home runs: "We're playing good defense, so I'd like to see the ball put in play on the ground or at least give our defenders a chance to make a play because our defense has been really good. I'm all for pitching to contact but you've got be able to get off the barrel. You've got to be able to move feet. You've got to be able to pitch to both sides of the plate and up and down. And when you're predictable when you're on one side of the plate against good lineups, you're going to give it up."

Hyde on Montas chirping at Mancini after strikeout: "I haven't talked to Trey. Sometimes those things happen. I don't know if it was ... Trey took him deep before. I don't know if there were words said after the strikeout. I haven't gotten to the bottom of that."

Hyde on Mancini: "I think Trey's coming into his own as a player. And his strength is ... To hit a line drive like that out to right field, it's impressive. He's done it a few times. He's not just a one-dimensional hitter. He's a hitter first and he's got so much strength, line drives can go out of the ballpark. Good athlete, played a nice first base tonight. I just think he's still scratching the surface on what kind of player he's going to be."

Hyde whether he was hesitant to use Davis: "I'm playing him tomorrow. I felt like it was a good matchup. I really liked his swings. He was out in front of a couple changeups. I liked his takes. I thought he wasn't rushing out. I thought he was balanced and in his center. And he put a really good swing on a ball that he just missed, so really happy with that at-bat.

"I was hoping a good at-bat could spark him for tomorrow a little bit and find the right situation for him. And I was really pleased with his at-bat and I hope he is, too. One thing about C.D., what I find is really admirable is the days he's not starting, he's ready to play. A lot of times when you have guys who have been playing every day for a long time and not used to coming off the bench, they kind of don't know how to find their way throughout the game and not sure when or if you're going to use them. But he's ready from the fourth inning on. He's always giving me eye contact.

"He wants to hit and so I love that, love that about him, love that about any bench player. So I knew he was ready for that at-bat, I knew he had been taking a lot of swings, and was kind of gave me some looks like, 'Are you going to use me here?' And so I wasn't hesitant about putting him in there."

Mancini on home run: "I was just kind of looking for something out over the plate. He threw it there. I just tried to put a short, compact swing on it and luckily it took off."

Mancini on what's working: "I'm just trying not to think too much, honestly. I am just kind of picking a spot on the plate and committing to it. I have an idea of what I want to do up there and sticking to it. If the pitcher beats me. I'll tip my cap. I'm trying to control if I can."

Mancini on homering to center and right: "When they're throwing the ball on the other side of the plate, I'm not trying to do too much with it. I'm not over-swinging and just trying to take what's given to me, so some of those just happen to be home runs. It's not like I'm trying all the time to hit them that way. But that's kind of the way it's happened so far."

Straily on start: "The competitor in me is really upset with the results, but I'm also able to take a step back and go look at some of the steps forward that I was able to take. I feel like I'm finishing up spring training right now, which is a tough place to be because it counts. It's not like we're up here getting ready anymore.

"I feel like my pitches were pretty sharp tonight. I wasn't getting ahead of guys with my fastball, and that really puts me sometimes in a bind, but I feel like I'm really close to where I need to be. It's just like a few small changes here and there, that's going to be a big difference for me."

Straily on whether this is hard place to pitch: "It's the major leagues. Everywhere is tough to pitch, but it's just another ballpark. I pitched an entire season in Cincinnati and that's a pretty small place to pitch and I was quite successful there. It's just one of those things where the ballpark really has no bearing on what I've done so far. Just throwing the ball over the plate, throwing too many strikes that aren't quality has been the downfall of my few innings down there and it's nice how close I am even though how frustrating it has been today to see how close my stuff is to being ready."

Straily on taking positives: "Just being able to throw my stuff to both sides of the plate. I'm working in all quadrants of the zone, things like that that make me who I am as a pitcher. I was able to execute a lot of those tonight and just not ...

"Everything kind of funneled back to the middle toward the end and that's really when I started having some trouble with it. When I try and throw a slider back door, and it comes back middle. I try and throw a fastball away, it comes back middle. Just some of those things are really just kind of a product of not being out there. I think it's really close to being ready to go now."